Fastening belt buckles & fittings
We sell a lot of belts, each with their own designs and details. But it’s also possible to buy a leather belt and belt hardware separately and create your own design.
You can choose your preferred buckle, end and fittings and fasten these to the plain belt.
Depending on the type of belt buckle the way to attach it to the belt is different.
Pin and ring fastening
A belt buckle with a pin and ring fastening is attached to the end of a belt, without the belt being looped through it. The buckle usually has 3 pins on the inside that will go through the leather belt.
What do you need?
-Leather belt strap
-Leather punch or piercer
-Belt buckle (with the rings that came with it)
-Pen or marker
-Exacto knife
-Glue
How to attach a pin and ring buckle:
Step 1:
Cut a notch in one end of the leather belt, making sure it’s in the middle of the belt. This doesn’t have to be deep, about 3mm should be enough. This notch will make sure the buckle tongue can move freely once the buckle is attached.
Step 2:
Place the buckle on the leather to check where the pins of the buckle are on the belt. Mark these points with a pen.
Step 3:
Use the leather punch or piercer to make holes through the belt where you’ve marked the placement of the pins
Step 4:
Place the buckle on the belt again with the pins going into the holes. Flip the belt over.
Step 5:
Drop a tiny amount of glue into each hole, onto the end of the pins, and press the rings into the hole. Press them in firmly.
Step 6:
Measure where you need the belt holes to go. You can either measure this out by hand or use a different, well fitting belt as template. Make sure there’s at least 1.25cm between each hole. Mark the placement of the hole with a pen or marker.
Step 7:
Use the piercer or leather punch to make the hole on the marked spots.
If you want to further decorate your belt with a belt end and/or belt fittings, this works in a similar manner. Measure and mark where you want the decorative hardware to go (for a belt end, mark where the pins of the belt end go). Use the piercer or leather punch to make the holes in the belt. Push the pin on the hardware into the hole, flip the belt over and add a drop of glue in the hole. Push in the little end cap of the belt end or fitting into the hole and wait for the glue to dry.
Regular buckle
A regular belt buckle is attached to the belt by having the belt go through the buckle and be folded around the buckle.
What do you need?
-Leather belt strap
-Leather punch or piercer
-Exacto knife
-Belt buckle
-Pen or marker
-Rivets
-Glue
How to attach a regular belt buckle:
Step 1:
Mark where the buckle tongue and rivets have to go through the leather.
The belt doesn’t need to overlap too much, just enough so the holes for the rivet won’t be right at the edge of the belt or too close to where the slit for the tongue needs to be. Generally, an overlap of 3 to 4 cm should be enough.
The slit for the belt tongue will have to go on the curve of the folded belt. The holes for the rivet have to each be placed at the same distance from the slit, one on each side.
Step 2:
Use a leather punch or piercer to make the holes in the leather. To make the slit for the belt tongue, you can overlap the punch for a more oval shaped hole, or you can cut it with an exacto knife.
Step 3:
Pass the end of the belt strap through the buckle and push the buckle tongue through the slit in the belt strap. Fold the end of the strap around the buckle, underneath itself. Make sure the holes on each side of the slit line up.
Step 2:
Push the open sides of the rivets into the holes at the top of the belt strap. Flip the belt over and drop some glue into the holes. Push the other end of the rivet into the hole and let the glue dry.
Click here for our collection buckles and belt fittings